Mr. POINTERasked the Secretary for the Colonies the number of oil concessions granted by the Trinidad Government under the administration of the present Governor; whether he can give the names of the concessionaires and their residences, the extent of acreage granted to each, the district, and the value paid by each concessionaire to the Government in the first instance; and whether due precaution was taken by the director of public works, on assignment, to satisfy himself that the concessionaire possessed sufficient capital to ensure proper working?
Mr. HARCOURTIf by the term "oil concessions" my hon. Friend refers to oil mining leases, only one such concession has been granted by the present Governor. The lease in question was granted to the Trinidad Petroleum Company, and is now held by the Trinidad Oilfields, Limited. It includes certain parcels of land lying in the wards of La Brea and Guapo, containing an area of 3,200 acres or thereabouts, and the minimum rent reserved by the lease amounts to £2,000 a year, first payable from the 1st January, 1912. The lease also contains clauses providing for the payment of royalties on oil won. No complete list of exploration or prospecting licences granted by the Colonial Government is available in this country. Precautions are always taken by the Government to satisfy themselves that concessionaires possess sufficient capital to ensure proper working.
Mr. POINTERalso asked the Secretary for the Colonies whether any official or unofficial members of the Legislative Council of Trinidad have at any time obtained oil concessions; and, if so, will he give the names and positions held, and the amount in acreage of the concession and the price paid as purchase, and, if since transferred, the price so received?
Mr. HARCOURTMy hon. Friend will observe from my reply to another question to-day the distinction which it is necessary to draw between the various kinds of oil concessions in Trinidad. No official or unofficial member of the Legis-2242W lative Council has, so far as I am aware, been granted an oil mining lease in the Colony.
Mr. POINTERasked the Secretary for the Colonies whether, in regard to the oil concessions in Trinidad, he can furnish the amount paid by the large corporations to the first concessionaires on the transfer of their concessions?
Mr. POINTERasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the produce of Tobago, where no indentured labour exists, is taxed on exportation to meet the expense of importing indentured labour into Trinidad?
Mr. HARCOURTThe Island of Tobago is a ward of the united colony of Trinidad and Tobago, and the revenue, expenditure, and debt of Tobago has been merged in the united colony, and the debt of Tobago to Trinidad cancelled. There is, therefore, no ground for discriminating between the produce of the two islands in regard to export tax.